Canon Selphy CP600

The Canon Selphy CP600 represents yet another compact photo printer that allows printing on-the-go. However, even with an external battery pack, its portability factor is restricted by the lack of a preview display and an onboard memory card reader, making it essential to connect the unit to the PC if the camera doesn't support PictBridge. Overall, this printer is more suited for personal home use rather than as a mobile companion.

Design
With a boxy outlook, this portable Canon printer measures 178 x 131 x 58.5mm and weighs 875g. There are no sharp edges on the unit which is good, just in case we scrape our beautiful mural paint when we place it right beside the wall. This dye-sublimation printer employs a see-saw motion printing sequence which will see the photo paper sliding out from the rear and re-fed back into the slot three times. Such an action requires about 180mm of available space behind the unit.

The IrDA transmitter is located at the bottom left corner of the printer and the front compartment opens up manually for the cassette tray.

The color ink cassette is inserted to the right of the printer, behind a plastic clip-down cover.

Canon has kept the design of the CP600 simple and fuss-free. The On/Off button resides within a large dotted circle and powers on when pressed and held down for approximately 2 seconds. A see-through translucent window above the control allows the user to see what size of media paper and the number of printouts the color ink cassette is able to deliver. Further up is simply the brand and model of the printer itself.

With an external battery, the user can print photos directly from the printer with PictBridge without connecting it to a power cord.

Port connections are found on the left side of the printer behind a rubber covering.

A prominent black and circular panel on the lower left corner of the Selphy houses the infrared transmitter which allows us to print directly from our handhelds. The port connections are located to the left of the CP600 which are protected by a flip-on rubber cover. A detachable plastic casing at the rear of the unit allows the machine to run on its external Lithium-ion battery pack, a valuable option for mobile printing. Meanwhile, the color ink cassette is inserted from the right, behind a plastic clip cover.

With a required additional space of 180mm behind the printer and a cassette tray that measures 180mm, the length of the whole unit adds up to approximately 490mm during print jobs--another one of those space factors to consider.